


Draw the Sun

by PaintedVanilla



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Childhood, Drawing, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 14:26:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10310267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintedVanilla/pseuds/PaintedVanilla
Summary: Normally Pete didn’t work where the sun even hit the pavement before or after noon, but it had been weeks since the last time it rained and the ground between his usual alleyway was completely filled with doodles.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [niceboulder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/niceboulder/gifts).



> I!! Said!! I!! Would!! Write!! This!! And!! I!! Finally!! Did!!
> 
> I think Sonny is eight here, which would make Pete eleven and Usnavi nineteen. It also puts Nina and Vanessa at fourteen bwap :0)
> 
> Based off of [thiiiiis](http://boopliette.tumblr.com/image/156369670565) piece by [boopliette](http://boopliette.tumblr.com) on tumblr :0

Pete was knelt at an awkward angle, seeing as the sidewalk was hot enough to burn his knees. Normally he didn’t work where the sun even hit the pavement before or after noon, but it had been weeks since the last time it rained and the ground between his usual alleyway was completely filled with doodles. Pete had been told he wasn’t supposed to draw on the walls of buildings a thousand times, because the chalk couldn’t wash off with the rain, but with the dirty looks strangers kept throwing him for crouching in the middle of the sidewalk he was starting to think about crawling back into his alleyway and marking up a brick wall.

A ways down the street, Abuela Claudia slipped outside into the morning, smiling; whoever happened to be walking along near her door stopped to say good morning. They exchanged for a moment before they parted ways, the somebody walking opposite of Pete and Abuela walking towards him.

Pete looked down; she had already come out earlier this morning to go by the bodega, but Pete hadn’t yet ventured out beyond his alleyway yet. When she’d come by earlier he’d been searching awkwardly for a stip of pavement to doodle on, and when she’d passed him again on her way back to her apartment he’d had no such luck. Rather, he’d been loitering near the edge of the alley trying to decide if dipping out onto the sidewalk would be worth it.

Now, as she walked towards him, chalk doodles dripped from the alleyway and poured out onto the sunny sidewalk, Pete currently kneeling over the biggest one. He stared down at it, overly aware of her approaching, scared of getting a dirty look from her, too; Pete didn’t think he’d be able to handle that. Sure, she was the one who kept putting chalk out for him in the first place, but perhaps she wanted his doodles to stay where no one could see them.

She paused as she came to the edge of his drawings, and Pete focused on coloring in one of the buildings where it really didn’t need to be colored in. She stood over him for a minute, before finally she said, “Buenos días, Peter.” because she did that, because she knew  _ everyone’s  _ name.

Pete looked up at her shyly, holding the chalk close to him in case she decided to take it away, “Buenos días.” he returned softly, and she smiled.

“When I was out here earlier, I didn’t see these!” she told him, and he looked down.

“They’re new.” he explained, and she nodded.

“Are these buildings in New York?” she asked, and Pete placed a hand on his drawing, before retracting it quickly due to the heat.

“Yeah,” he said, “I can see them out my window in my room.”

“Who do you think works there?”

Pete thought about that for a moment, “Businessmen.” he concluded.

“What business do these businessmen do?”

“They...build buildings.”

“Like the one they’re in?”

“Like this one,” Pete said, pointing to the building on the far right, “I don’t actually see it out my window, but I think this looks better.”

“Me, too.” Abuela said, “What do they work on in that building?”

“They draw things, like me.” Pete said confidently, “I’m the boss.”

“You did build the building.” she said, and Pete giggled, “This all looks wonderful, Peter.”

He was quiet for a moment, “Do you want me to draw you anything?”

Abuela smiled at him, then paused to think; finally, she said, “Can you draw me the sun? So the artists can see what they’re drawing?”

Pete blushed, “Yes!” he said excitedly, leaning over and picking up the yellow chalk, “I’ll draw you the sun right here!” he said, tapping it above the buildings.

“Thank you so much,” she said, “I’m just going up the street, but I’ll come back by this way to see my sun, yes?”

“Okay!” Pete said, before starting to work on the sun; Abuela stepped carefully around his doodles and continued on her way down the street. Pete finished the center of the sun, so he drew the rays of the sun around it. When he finished with those and Abuela still had not returned, he drew clouds to accompany the sun. When those were finished and there was still no Abuela he lost track of the picture and doodled whatever came to mind to occupy the time. He drew birds and swirls; he wrote his name and put people outside in front of the buildings. He attempted to trace his hand on the sidewalk, but it was too hot for him to do so properly, so he stretched them out and choose to ignore them.

He was in the process of making the people on the sidewalk look less like broken sticks when someone was suddenly standing over him, “Did you draw this?!” he asked excitedly; Pete jerked his head up to look at him, “It’s real good!” the kid said, and Pete felt his face grow hot.

“Wha - ?” he tried to say, but the kid interrupted.

“I love the sun!” he said, bending down to touch it lightly; he pulled his hand away from the hot pavement but didn’t say anything about it, “You drew the sun so pretty!”

Pete blushed harder, “It’s - it’s for Abuela Claudia…” he muttered, and the kid beamed.

“Abuela will love it! Abuela loves the sun!” he declared, “I love the sun, too! My name is Sonny!”

Pete fiddled with the chalk in his hand, “That’s cool.”

“I also love this bird.” Sonny said, leaning down to point at it, “‘Bwah! Bwah!’” he read out the words written alongside the bird, before he looked down the side of the drawing “‘Pete, Pete, Pete, Pete!’” he read, “Is your name Pete?”

“Uh, yeah,” Pete said, still blushing, “Your name is Sonny?”

“Yup!” Sonny said, “Like sunny - like sunshine - but with an O where the U goes!” Sonny picked up a piece of chalk, “Can I show you?”

Pete nodded, “Sure.”

Sonny wrote his name out a respectful distance from Pete’s doodles, “Here you go,” he said when he was finished, handing the chalk back; Pete took it and held it close. Sonny looked over the drawings again, “You’re so good at these!”

Pete blushed harder, looking down, “Thank you.” he muttered.

“Do you ever draw with pencil?” Sonny asked, and Pete shook his head, “Aw,” he paused, looking around, “Do you draw anywhere else?”

Pete pointed into the alleyway, “In there,” he said; Sonny walked closer and his mouth fell opened when he saw the entire alleyway ground was covered in doodles.

“Wow!” he said, before running down the alleyway to look at all of them; he didn’t emerge for a long time, and Pete tried to go back to improving his stick people, but he couldn’t figure out how now. Instead, he moved to a different spot of the sidewalk and drew another, smaller sun, this one orange instead of yellow.

Sonny came barreling back out of the alleyway, startling Pete; Sonny ran over to him and reached out, cupping his cheeks and squishing them together, “You’re so good!” he said excitedly, and Pete went back to blushing.

“Th’nk ‘oo.” Pete said, and Sonny let go of his cheeks; Pete dropped his head back down to keep working on his new sun, and Sonny hovered over his shoulder.

“Is this sun also for Abuela?” he asked, and Pete paused.

“I guess it can be for you.” he said awkwardly, and Sonny gasped softly.

“Thank you!” he said happily, and leaned down, giving Pete a tight hug over his shoulders; Pete went stiff, but just as soon as Sonny was on him he was off again, darting away towards something Pete couldn’t see.

“Abuela!” he said happily, and Pete jerked his head back up; Abuela was indeed back, standing over his drawing of the buildings and smiling down at it. Pete stood up quickly, almost dropping the piece of chalk in his hand, and Abuela looked at him happily.

“I drew your sun.” Pete said quickly, pointing to it, and she smiled at him.

“I see,” she said, “Thank you so much, it’s lovely.”

Pete blushed, looking down again, “Thank you.”

“He drew me a sun, too, Abuela, look!” Sonny said proudly, pointing to the one Pete was standing over, and she nodded.

“It’s also lovely, Sonny, but I think Usnavi is looking for you,” Abuela said, “he was asking about you when I walked by the bodega, so you should probably head back.”

Sonny pouted, “Do I have to?”

Abuela patted his shoulder, “I’m afraid so.”

Sonny huffed, but looked back to Pete, “Thank you for the sun!” he said, “See ya later!” he waved, before turning and running back up the sidewalk towards the bodega.

Abuela looked up towards the sky, past Pete, “It looks like it’s going to rain,” she said, and Pete turned to look at the clouds sadly. They were quiet for a moment, before Abuela spoke, “Let me go and grab my camera then, before this washes away.”

Pete looked back at her, “You want to take a picture of this?” he asked, and Abuela nodded.

“Of course,” she said, “You drew me a sun! And I want you to use this as a reference for one day, when you build your art building in the city.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes!! I did overanalyze the doodle from the piece this is based off of!!


End file.
